Barr said during a speech Tuesday at the Republican National Convention that Kentucky's coal industry powers America. But he blamed "overregulation" for the loss of some 2,000 mining jobs in the state.

Barr, the Lexington lawyer challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler in Kentucky's 6th District, was one of a long list of Republican congressional candidates who gave brief speeches Tuesday afternoon.

Chandler has said he won't be going to his party's national convention where Obama will officially receive the Democratic nomination. Chandler and Barr are engaged in what is expected to be Kentucky's most competitive general election congressional race.